There are two really interesting stops on the road from Bengaluru to Mysuru. The first is the Government Cocoon Market at Ramanagara. The second is exactly midway; Milestone 67, one of the nicest rest stops we’ve found in India.
Government Cocoon Market at Ramanagara
What kind of government runs a cocoon market? A government in a country that produces silk worm cocoons, of course.
The Government Cocoon Market in Ramanagara is fascinating and bustling. We saw hamper after hamper filled with what looked like overgrown cotton balls. We picked them up, inspecting their colour and fineness. Even with our inexperienced eyes, we could start to identify the premium quality.
Ramanagara is renowned for its sericulture—the cultivation of silk worms for silk production—and has earned the nickname Silk City. The silk from this region is used to make the famous Mysore Silk.
As the largest market for silk cocoons in Asia, Ramanagara receives 50 tonnes of cocoons every day. No wonder it’s so bustling! After all that exploration, we worked up an appetite and were eager for our next stop.
Indradhanush and Meraki at Milestone 67
At the 67th kilometer milestone between Bengaluru and Mysuru (formerly Mysore) lies a well-known rest stop called Milestone 67, exactly halfway between the two cities. A father-daughter duo owns the place.
S.N. Manjunath, the father, owns Idradhanush. He inherited the land and began developing it in 1999. Though a former banker, he always dreamed of running his own business. His daughter, Nidhi Manjunath, an animator with a passion for entrepreneurship, returned to help him after missing life in green spaces. Since 2015, she has owned Meraki, an adjacent ice cream shop where she creates her own flavors and bakes handmade waffle cones.
The father makes the best Pongal we’ve ever tasted. Inspired by his daughter, we ventured to create a few new ice cream flavors ourselves, which you’ll find in this and this post.
